


Looking At The Stars

by crystalheaven



Series: Slice of life [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-02
Updated: 2010-08-02
Packaged: 2017-10-10 21:59:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalheaven/pseuds/crystalheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The front door hadn't been locked, but the lights were off in their quarters when John got home. For a moment, he thought the apartment was empty, that Rodney was spending the night on Carson's couch or on some bench in his lab. Even perhaps had decided to return to his old quarters. Anywhere in Atlantis, as long as it was far away from John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looking At The Stars

The front door hadn't been locked, but the lights were off in their quarters when John got home. For a moment, he thought the apartment was empty, that Rodney was spending the night on Carson's couch or on some bench in his lab. Even perhaps had decided to return to his old quarters. Anywhere in Atlantis, as long as it was far away from John.

Not that John would have blamed him. The things he had said, the look in Rodney's eyes as he said them, made John's stomach turn over. He tried closing his eyes, but that only made it worse, made it that much easier to picture the way Rodney had looked up at his entrance to the labs, happy to see him. He hadn't been happy for long.

And the worst part? John couldn't even remember how the fight started, but he could damn sure remember the words he had yelled. Could remember the way Rodney's eyes had flickered with hurt and bewilderment, then narrowed in anger, before he had starting throwing back more than a few cutting words of his own. How Zelenka and Lorne had been forced to step in and separate them before it had come to blows. No, John wouldn't blame Rodney if he had decided to sleep somewhere else for the night. For the next few nights. For forever.

Opening his eyes, John let his gaze flicker over their living room. The couch was empty, but the throw blanket Teyla had given Rodney as a birthday gift three months ago was missing from the arm. He found it in the kitchen, tossed over the back of a chair, along with Rodney's dark gray mission jacket. On the table were the makings of what looked like a home-cooked meal, a few candles burned more than halfway down, and two sets of the handmade Athosian dish set Elizabeth had given them for Christmas. John looked at the spread for a minute in confusion, and then it hit him.

Somehow, he and Rodney had both managed to get both tonight and tomorrow off. A miracle, given that they were both senior staff. They were supposed to have spent a quiet evening at home, eating one of Rodney's home-cooked dinners, watching movies that John had spent the last three weeks trading for, and just enjoying each other's company. And then had come that stupid fight in the lab. John, needing space, had gone for a long walk through the less used sections of Atlantis, had totally forgot their plans, and never showed. Jesus, was he a world class jackass or what?

Looking at the remains of their dinner, John sighed. _'I'm thinking it's definitely 'or what'._ Reaching for the closest dish, he started to clean up, putting the food into the Ancient fridge thingy, blowing out the candles and placing the clean dishes back into their cabinet with the rest of the set. He refolded the blanket and put it on the couch arm, before heading off to search the rest of their apartment.

Starting down the hall, he checked both their offices first. His was empty as he figured it would have been, but Rodney's laptop was open with the screen saver running. One of Radek's, if the drawings were any indication. He had to admit, the little cartoons were cute. He especially loved the two little devils sitting on the top of a jumper, one in blue, one in black, tails entwined, shooting fire balls out of their tridents at fleeing Wraith and Genii. Though the one with the little blue devil roasting a pony-tailed pig over a fire never failed to make him laugh. Except for now.

Deciding he had done enough to piss Rodney off today John left the computer alone. He had made that particular mistake only once before and wasn't about to repeat it. His ears had still been ringing more than an hour after Rodney had finished tearing into him. And while John agreed with Rodney on the quality of his father's half of his conception, he thought it was a little much when Rodney compared him to a common street-corner pickpocket. Not when John obviously rated at least a 'cat distinction. History of Black Ops and all.

A quick check of the guest room and bath showed them to be empty as well, not that John actually expected to find Rodney in either one of them. Since he and Rodney had moved-in together, the rooms hadn't been used except as a catchall storage space for all this trinkets and doodads that the two of them had pack-ratted over the years. The display shelves Ronon had crafted for them as a housewarming gift bracketed on each side the Hunt Bow and shafts that Rodney had been given after the mission to Adrana and his Torgallan Shilvas.

Every time he looked at the damn things, he was reminded of those fighting knives that the elf Legolas had used in the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy. A fact that Rodney had gleefully pointed out when they got back to their quarters that night, laughing so hard he'd started to cry. John hadn't been sure of most of the words Rodney had said, most had come out in a jumbled mix. He was sure of the fact that the words 'ears', 'pointy', and 'elven' had been in there somewhere. That had been the last straw. Snatching a pillow from their bed, John had bashed Rodney in the head, and an all out pillow war had in-sued, that ended with the two of them tumbling into bed together, tired, sweaty, and more than willing to call it a truce and get on with the peace-talks.

Smiling lightly, as the memory always made him do, John felt the smile fade from his face, as another, more current memory took hold.

Entering the master bedroom, he didn't notice anything out of place. All of the pictures were still in their frames, the bed looked normal, no missing pillows or blankets. A quick check of the bathroom and closets showed two sets of clothes, military and civilian, two toothbrushes, two of everything there was supposed to be two of. For the first time since walking through the front door, John felt his stomach settle into some semblance of calm.

That left one place to look, and sure enough, leaning against the railing on the deck off the bedroom, looking out at the night sky, was Rodney. He had his back to the doors, but John didn't doubt for a second that Rodney knew he was there. Geek though McKay might be, it was damn near impossible to come up behind him without him knowing you were there. And God knew, John had tried. Thus far, only Teyla, and on one memorable occasion Ronon, had managed to startle McKay by sneaking up on him. John was sure the kitchen staff was still taking about it, if for no other reason than the perfect three-point-landing Rodney's tray had made on Caldwell's head the next table over. From that point on, John made sure that Rodney got more than three hours of sleep a night, and cut back on the coffee intake during non-emergency situations. Better for all their blood pressures.

Leaning back against the door jam, John decided against heading out onto the balcony, instead choosing to wait and watch Rodney as he stared off at something only he seemed to be seeing. After a while, it was Rodney that broke the silence.

"Enjoying the view, are we?" John's stomach settled a little more, and he barely managed to suppress a smile. As long as Rodney wasn't actively trying to take his head off, John was willing to play along with whatever it was that McKay wanted to do. And if that meant that they were going to pretend the fight hadn't happened, well then, the fight hadn't happened.

"Yeah. One of the best I've seen in a while." Rodney's answering snort was half disbelief, half amusement. This time, John let a tiny smile through. When Rodney didn't respond, he continued.  
"Seeing anything interesting?"

Rodney hummed in assent, never taking his eyes off the night vista before him. "Yeah, now that I've taken your advice, I've seen a lot of interesting things."

John frowned for a second, forehead wrinkled in confusion."My advice? When did I give you advice? What was it?" Rodney kept looking out at the sea.

"The advice you gave me earlier, in the lab. I believe it went something along the lines of 'Take your fucking head out of your ass for a goddamn minute and _ look _ at what's going on around you rather than trying to analyze everything to death.'"

Okay, so obviously they weren't going to pretend the fight didn't happen. Queue that sick feeling in his stomach again as any semblance of calm was blown right out of the sky. Shutting his eyes, John rubbed a hand over his face. But _ fuck _ was he spending the next few months in the doghouse. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he opened his mouth to apologize, but as Rodney had yet to actually turn around, let alone look at him, the scientist either didn't see, or chose to ignore him.

"There was a little more about how I was spending hours on end locked away in the lab like some damn hermit. That I should probably just drag a bed into the corner and move in there if that's where I'd rather be." And yeah, John was so feeling like the biggest jackass in the history of _everything_.

"I didn't mean... God, Rodney. You have to know that I..." John trailed off, trying to get his thoughts in some semblance of order. He figured it probably would have been easier if it didn't feel like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut. He opened his mouth to try to explain, but he couldn't quite seem to form the words. They kept getting stuck in his throat.

Finally Rodney turned and looked at him, rather than talking to the railing, or the ocean. For a moment, the outward projection of calm that Rodney had been projecting up until this point cracked, and John got a good look at the emotions boiling under Rodney's skin before he dragged the tattered edges of his self control together and slammed them closed before turning back toward the ocean, arms wrapped around his chest like a shield.

"Rodney-"

"Forget it, John. I get it." And God, John could _ hear _ the anger and hurt in Rodney's voice.

"What do you think you get?"

"What do I... I think I get the fact that you're the biggest asshole I've ever met." John nodded. Because yeah, truer words and all that shit.

"No argument there."

"I get that you have got the ability to drive me absolutely bat-shit insane."

John scratched the back of his head. "True enough." Rodney whipped back around and glared at him. John just nodded his head.

"I get that at the time, I don't think there was a person in this city that either of us hated more."

"Rodney-"

"Shut up!" Rodney cut him off with a bark. "Just, shut up. You don't get to talk right now." John shut up. He had started all this with the fight. The least he could do was stand there and let Rodney chew him a new one.

Rodney stared at him for another minute, reaching up and dragging his hands though his hair before throwing them up in the air and starting to pace back and forth in front of John.

"I was so unbelievably _pissed_ at you. Today was supposed to be our day. A mini-vacation kind of thing, since taking the weekend off and going to Maui is kind of out of the question. And then you blew it all to hell by storming into the lab, and starting that damn fight!" Coming to a stop almost directly across from John, he pointed a finger at Sheppard and kept on going.

"And that crack about me moving into the lab?" John closed his eyes, wincing mentally. _Jesus Sheppard,_ John swore at himself. _Open your mouth a little wider why don't you? I'm sure there's an inch or two of leg you haven't managed to shove in there._ He was so caught up in yelling at himself, he nearly missed Rodney's next words, whisper quiet as they were compared to the shouting earlier.

"Just what was that anyway? You can tell me that much. What was it... Was it a 'said in the heat of the moment' kind-of-a- thing or a 'you don't love me anymore and want me to move out' kind-of-a-thing?" John's mouth popped open and he was pretty sure his eyes were bugged out as well. _What the hell?_

"Jesus, McKay! No. Fucking no! I... I just..." Ignoring Rodney's suddenly startled look, John crossed the six or so feet that separated them in two huge, ground-eating steps and, dancing around the finger pointed at him like a spear, all but crashed into him, wrapping his arms as tightly as he could around the other man, tucking his head into the crook of McKay's neck.

"I didn't mean it like that, I swear. You believe me, right? God, Rodney, I'm sorry." John knew he was babbling, not to mention the way his voice wobbled like a top at the end of its spin, but for once didn't care. He had messed this up so totally.

He froze for a moment as Rodney struggled against him, dropping his arms away as fast as possible before starting to step back, but was halted the by the arms that shot up and locked around his torso, one hand resting at the small of this back, the other sheathing itself in his hair, pulling him in close. John instantly returned the gesture, sighing slightly as Rodney's head tucked in close next to his.

"I know, John. It's okay. I know you didn't. I know." As Rodney's voice drifted into his ear, John felt some of the tension drain out of him. Muscles he didn't even know were locked slowly began to loosen, and John pulled Rodney that much closer in response. He could literally feel the tightness and hurt flowing out of his, letting Rodney slip in to take its place, till it was hard to tell where he stopped, and McKay began. It was then that he realized that Rodney's body was shaking slightly. Fine tremors seemed to wrack the scientist's entire frame.

Frowning slightly, John lifted his head from McKay's neck and slid his hands down from Rodney's back to the waistband of his pants. Pulling the shirt free, he slipped his hands up inside until they were laying flat against skin. Normally, Rodney put heat out like a furnace, a fact that John teased him about mercilessly, but wasn't above using for his own advantage. Like now, as Atlantis slowly slid into the cooler months. But at the moment, Rodney's skin more was more cool to the touch than warm. Ice cold was closer to the truth.

"Jesus, Rodney, you're freezing!" Pulling his hands out from the back of Rodney's shirt, John ran his hands back up McKay's body all the way to his neck. Goose bumps sprang up behind his palms the entire way. And now that they were so close and calm, John could _see_ McKay shivering, on top of feeling it.

Ignoring Rodney's protest that he was fine, John took a step back and shrugged out of his expedition coat before manhandling it up McKay 's arms and rubbing his hands up and down, trying to generate some warmth. "What the hell are you doing out here without a coat on, anyway? It's got to be near freezing."

Rodney protested for another few seconds, before giving in and leaning forward against John, the fine tremors growing to full-on shivers now. "Honestly? I really didn't feel cold." John felt McKay's tiny smile at his snort before trying to burrow closer, seeking and burrowing into Sheppard's warmth like a cat to a sunbeam.

"How the hell could you not feel cold? You, of all people, who bitches if the off-world temperature drops below seventy-five." John obliged the seeking by pulling Rodney as close as possible and letting himself be used as a human hot water bottle. If Rodney was the furnace in this relationship, then John was more of a campfire banked down to embers. Still hot enough to burn, but warm enough that you could get in real close and enjoy the heat. Which was what Rodney was trying to do at the moment. At least, until John's comment filtered in.

"I do not bitch." And damn if he didn't sound like a petulant five year old. John smiled slightly. Rodney couldn't still be that mad at him if he was willing to banter like this.

"You so do." Rodney's eyes narrowed slightly, the only warning John had before an elbow slammed into his ribs.

"OW! Jesus, McKay, that hurt!"

"Good. Because I've just now started to forgive you for the whole being a jackass earlier, and I'd hate for you to screw it up by starting it all over again."

John though about arguing, but conceded. Because damn it, Rodney had unerring aim when he wanted to, and getting slammed in the ribs? Ouch. "Yeah, ok. I'm an ass, and you don't bitch like a five year old." When Rodney's eyes narrowed again, John amended his comment. "I mean, you don't bitch period. Nope, no bitching here. None at all."

"Okay, yes, thank you. I get the point. Your ribs are safe for the moment."

"Just for the moment?"

"At least until you start acting like an ass again."

John sighed. It was the best he was going to get under the circumstances. "Deal. I stop acting like an ass, and you stop trying to kick mine." Leaning back slightly to get a better look at Rodney's face, he tried again. "But still. You didn't answer my question. Why were you out here freezing your ass off in the first place?"

Rodney froze. "I uh... I was taking another bit of your advice from earlier."

John groaned. Thus far, his advice-giving skills today had rated so far into the negative numbers it didn't even bear thinking about. Grimacing slightly, he asked, "Do I even want to know?" Rodney smirked.

"This time, it wasn't so bad." Seeing John's rolled eyes, Rodney amended his words. "Well, okay it was bad. But not as bad as what you said before. Well, technically, this was all said before, but what I meant was what I told you earlier that you had said before, about me-"

"Rodney." John's voice held a touch of warning, letting him know that he was getting off topic. And that now really wasn't the time.

"Right. You said that 'For an astrophysicist you spend very little time actually _ looking _ at the stars.' And that if I tried it once in a while, it might help me be less of... Well, you remember what came next."

And yes, John remembered what came after that. Jesus, he could feel the heat rising up from his neck as the rest of the memory filtered though. And it was obvious Rodney had seen the blush, John could feel the vibrations from McKay's chuckling against his chest.

"Okay. So yeah, I'm the biggest jerk in the history of everything. That explains why you're outside. But what are you doing out here with no coat, or blanket, or even the throw from the couch? I saw it hanging off the chair in the kitchen, so I know you had it earlier." This time, it was Rodney's turn to blush a little.

"Well, after the fight, I came back here. I finished making dinner, and set everything up, so when you came back, we could try to sit down and have a civil conversation, rather than try to take each other's heads off." And John didn't miss the way Rodney had said, 'When you came back', rather than if. Perhaps things weren't as bad as he had thought. Rodney, as if sensing his thoughts, pulled John back tightly against him and burrowed back into his neck. His next few words came out a little muffled.

"After a while, when you didn't show, I went into the living room and wrapped up in the throw before sitting on the couch. I just kept going over the fight again and again in my head. The things we had said to each other. How everything just seemed to come to a head. The way Radek and Lorne had to keep up from tearing into one another...

"Eventually, I headed back into the kitchen for a drink, and was too tired to deal with dinner, so I left it there and tried to get something done in my office.

"That didn't work. All I could think about was the damn fight. I just kept playing it over and over again and again in my head. Eventually, I gave up and headed out here to think. To take your advice, and look at the stars. I guess I was so lost in thought, I never really noticed that I had taken my coat off when I got home, or that I had left the throw in the kitchen. Guess dinner's ruined by this point, huh?"

"Nah, I stuck it in the fridge thingy when I got home. Put the candles out when I came in too, though it almost wasn't worth it, what with them more than half gone and all." And John smiled a little at Rodney's pained moan. While the Athosians made large batches of the thick, huge candles, the smaller, taper ones were a special item they only made once a month or so. As such, they were one of the higher end priced items on the Atlantis black market. Right up there with coffee, candy, and DVD's. So, getting them usually involved the loss of a firstborn somewhere down the road.

"Eh, don't worry. They're going to be making a huge batch next week. The Lanarans love Athosian candles, and requested a shipment in trade. Something about how their candles don't burn down houses as often as other ones do. A fact that I'm extremely grateful for, since you left ours burning unguarded." John couldn't help the little bit of annoyance that crept into his voice, even though he knew this so wasn't the time for it. Rodney just groaned again.

"Yes, well, as I said, I was distracted-" John cut him off mid-sentence.

"You would have been dead, if a fire broke out and blocked the only way out of the apartment! Jesus, Rodney. I could have lost you, and the last thing we would have ever said to each other was that stupid fight." Closing his eyes, John tightened his hold and tried to banish the images that came unbidden to his mind. Oh yeah, he knew full well what a person trapped by fire looked like afterward. He had lost several friends that way in Iraq. He could still smell it, burnt wood and crisped flesh. Charred and curling. White bone showing through black skin. To have lost Rodney that way, with things between them left like that they had been...

"Damn it Sheppard! Knock it off!" The bruising grip Rodney had on his arms, as well as the jerking motion his head made as McKay shook him was enough to pull him out of memories that he usually kept buried deep in the back of his mind. Taking a step back to keep from falling on his ass, John blinked and focused in on Rodney, who hadn't stopped talking.

"-amn it, I was wrong. Yes, I called you things that I'm going to be feeling guilty over for the next few centuries. So did you! But don't go begging for what ifs. We've got enough to deal with right here, right now, then wondering what might have, could have, happened."

Opening his eyes, John looked down into Rodney's face. For a second, Rodney just stared back at him, until...

"OW!" John dropped his arms and took a step back, rubbing the back of his head. He hadn't even seen the hand coming, which made the knock all the more a surprise. Rodney let his arms fall away before leaning back against the railing. Seeing the look on John's face, he just snorted.

"Yes well, if you weren't trying to drown in a puddle of 'pity me', I wouldn't have had to hit you."

"Was not." And god, he sounded like a whiny little brat. Him rubbing the back of his head with a pouty look on his face probably didn't help matters any. Damn if McKay didn't pick up on it either.

"Oh, you so were. But, given the fact that today was a complete and total disaster, I'm willing to let it go."

"Couldn't you have done that _ before _ cold clocking me up-side the head?"  
The answer was pure McKay. "Not really, no."

John stopped rubbing his head and just looked at McKay. Because honestly, there was only one way to reply to that. One way at all. John cracked up laughing. Rodney just watched him for a minute, an indulgent look in his face.

"You all right now? No more 'pity me' puddles?"

John snickered, cause really, it was funny. "No. No more 'pity me' puddles. Honest. Besides, I don't think my skull could take it."

"Please, your hair absorbed the force of the blow. You didn't feel a thing." Oh for the love of... Every damn time.

"Every damn time. Do you have to, really? I mean, what did my hair ever do to you?"

"P3X-749." John opened his mouth to reply, stopped, closed it, opened it to try again, closed it again, and backed down. Cause damn it, Rodney was right. And judging by his shit-eating grin, he knew it too.

"Yeah, yeah. You were right. Big surprise there." A swift, cold breeze from off the ocean made both of them shiver slightly. But damn, was it cold outside. John was so ready to go back in the apartment and get something hot to eat. Hopefully, dinner was still salvageable. It had been out for a while, but then again, he had put in the fridge thingy. "Ready to stop freezing our butts off out here and head in?"

"Yeah. Kind of stupid, coming out here, huh? Probably going to get sick or something." With a final look back toward the ocean, Rodney placed his hands against the railing at his back and started to push himself back up straight. But John had seen Rodney's face as he had looked toward the ocean. Had seen the quicksilver flash of emotion that had crossed his face. For all the pain that had driven him out here, Rodney had actually decided to follow John's advice.

Somehow in doing so, he had managed to find a moment of peace. And John didn't want to take that away from him. He was just about to suggest that they could stay out a little while longer if Rodney wanted, when he got an idea.

Like most of his ideas, it was a little crazy, relied heavily on luck and faith, and if he could pull it off, might just end up saving what was left of their evening. Either that, or blow up in his face. All he had to do was not screw it up. Reaching out, John snagged Rodney's arm and stopped his progress back into their apartment.

"Rodney, wait." When Rodney stopped and looked back at him, he continued. "Close your eyes." The look on Rodney's face spoke volumes about what he thought of John's sanity.

"What?" So, apparently, did his tone of voice. John sighed. This idea of his was a hell of a lot easier in his head. But, then again, when was life with Rodney ever easy?

"I said, close your eyes."

While they didn't close, Rodney's eyes did narrow slightly. "Why do you want me to close my eyes?"

"Because?" John said. Rodney's eyes got a little narrower, and the corner of his mouth did that little dippy thing that usually meant that he was five words away from comparing you to a single celled organism, with the organism winning intelligence wise.

"Because."

"Yes," John said. _This is working,_ he though. _This is actually going to work._

"Why?" _Or not_. John just sighed.

"Rodney, Please? Just..." Rodney stopped. He shot John a 'Were-you-dropped-on-your-head-as-a-child??' look. Absolutely hysterical when shot at hapless assistants and scientists from other planets, John found it lost some of its cuteness when directed at him.

"What does that have to do wit-" John cut him off mid-word. Because damn it, he had a plan, and Rodney needed to go with him for it to work. And while it was a relief that things weren't so bad between them that the banter was degrading back into fighting, wasn't really conductive to his plan succeeding.

"Yes or no, Rodney?" He watched as the look was ratcheted up a notch, just a hair shy of a full on glare. _ Oh yeah. Even if this works, McKay is so going to kick my ass later ._

"John?" Concerned now instead of annoyed, John noted. He was so close. Just a little further... "Are you sure you-" John cut him off again.

"McKay." Rodney blinked, stared into Sheppard's eyes for a good solid minute, before nodding slowly.

"I... Yes, all right? Yes." _ Yes! _ John crowed, internally of course, because McKay was already looking at him like he was a few fruits short of a full basket. _ Now, for the second part. And to think, that was the easy half. _

"Thank you. Now close your eyes. Don't open them till I tell you, okay?" When Rodney didn't answer, John pressed. "Promise?" Another long stare, before McKay nodded again. John figured by this point, Rodney had settled well into 'Humor-the-idiot' mode and was willing to let him wear himself out. Whatever got John what he needed.

"All right. I promise to stand here on the deck, with my eyes closed, until you tell me to open them."

"Thank you."

"You're not going to just leave and have me standing here alone with my eyes shut, are you?" John's eyes closed.

"Jesus, McKay. No, I'll be right back. I swear. I just need you to close your eyes for a minute or two."

"One or two?"

"Or three or four, or however long it takes me. But I swear, I'll be back. I'll even leave the doors open so you can hear me. Okay?"

"Okay." There was a few seconds pause, as Rodney's eyes locked with his own, before letting his eyelashes fluttered down, almost as if they were fighting to stay open. A few seconds later, they finally settled, remaining closed. John released a breath he hadn't known he was holding, before reaching out and placing a kiss on each of Rodney's eyelids. When Rodney's lips twitched, John placed a kiss there too.

"Thank you."

Leaving the doors open, John entered the bedroom and started for the bed, before dismissing the blankets. They were far too thin for what he had in mind. He started toward the door, then stopped. On the other hand, if he dragged that huge chair that Halling had made for them when they moved in together from in front of the balcony window outside, and the stuck the coffee table in front of it...

Putting thoughts to action, John did just that, trying to make as little noise as possible. He knew he was failing miserably as Rodney frowned and cocked his head to the side, as though trying to figure out what all the scraping and banging noises could be.

"No peeking!" John shot at him. A deepening of the frown was his answer.

"I wasn't peeking. I was listening attentively to whatever the hell you're doing. Which sounds like you're trying to take apart our bedroom, a piece at a time."

"Not even close But remember, you promised not to look."

"And I won't."

"Good." Having finally wrestled the chair from within to without, John headed back inside. He made a quick detour to the bed and, pulling off the blanket folded across the end, he shook it out before ducking back outside once again and wrapping it around Rodney.

"Still can't look. But I'd rather you not get sick. Give me a few more minutes" Rodney twitched like he wanted to protest, before snuggling deeper into the blanket, eyes still closed.

"Right, since it'd be your fault that I got sick in the first place, standing outside for God knows how long, in the cold, all by my self, wondering what the hell you were doing." John snorted. Never let it be said that Rodney could do subtle. Well, unless you considered a foghorn in the ear subtle.

"All right. Point taken. I'll hurry my ass up." Rodney's lips twitched again.

"That's all I ask."

Smiling, John headed into the kitchen, pulling that night's dinner from out of the fridge and putting it into the whateverthehellitwas stove thing in the corner. He set it to warm the dishes back up, not re-cook them, before grabbing the coffee table from in front of the couch and hauling it out onto the balcony. Setting it next to the chair, he shot a quick look at Rodney, who was leaning against the railing, eyes closed, head cocked.

"Still not looking." The unspoken 'for the moment' hung at the end of the sentence. John smiled. Some things never changed.

"I can see that, thank you."

"Almost done?" While the question wasn't technically a whine, John knew better than to press his luck for much longer. He was lucky Rodney had waited this long at all.

"Almost. Be patient."

"John, how long have you known me?" And anything John said in reply would just be stupid, because really, he knew Rodney.

"Right. Just a few more minutes. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

Back to the bedroom, where he pulled the thick comforter from the chest at the foot of the bed and tossed it onto the chair. A quick side-trip into his office snagged him his tablet, a quicker check confirmed that Dr's Stewart and Bishop had up loaded the latest data translated from database. They had. Score!

Taking the table with him back into the kitchen, where he pulled the now hot dishes out of the stove thingy, stuck them and the tablet into a basket for easier carrying and, snagging some of the candles from the table and the throw blanket from the couch, he made his way back out to the balcony.

Ignoring Rodney's inquisitive noises and twitches from the corner, he went about setting up the dishes on the coffee table, before taking the candles and setting them around the balcony, lighting them as he went. With a final command for the apartment lights to shut off, he straightened out the blankets on the chair and sat down, the throw a comfort against his back, the table tucked between the chair and the balcony railing out of sight until he needed it later.

"Okay, now you can look."

For a moment, John wasn't sure Rodney had heard him, as he continued to stand there, head cocked, eyes shut. Then, after a few seconds, Rodney's eyelids slowly began to rise. John could tell the exact moment Rodney realized what he had done to their balcony. Rodney's eyes nearly doubled in size, and his mouth popped open.

"What... What did you-" John cut him off with a wave, patting the chair next to him.

"Come here." Rodney continued to stare at him, so John said it again, this time with a little more command behind it. That seemed to pull Rodney out of the daze he had been in, as he stepped around the coffee table toward John.

"John? We aren't... That is... The chair isn't... There's no way the two of us will be able to-"

Reaching up and snagging Rodney's wrist, John shifted as over back as he could manage in the chair, and, with a quick tug, dragged the blanket off Rodney with one hand and pulled him into the chair next to him with the other. "I'm sure we'll find a way to make it work."

Rodney spluttered for a moment, trying to sit back up from the sprawl he had landed up in. John, seizing the moment, pushed, pulled, tugged, and shoved until he had Rodney situated just the way he wanted, settled between his thighs, McKay's back to his chest, arms wrapped tightly around the scientist. Rodney's outraged squawk of 'John!' only made him smile wider.

"See, told you it would work. OW! Jesus, McKay, watch the damn elbows. And quit fidgeting. You're going to land us both on the floor." After a moment more of token squirming, Rodney finally sat still long enough for John to sit up a little straighter and pull the ends of the blankets up and over their laps.

"There, see? Nice and cozy. Now, quit trying to elbow me in the nuts, and we'll be fine."

"I was not trying to..." Rodney stopped when John squeezed him a little tighter. The scientist was quiet for a moment, before turning slightly to look John in the face. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what brought this on? I though we were going to go inside and try to salvage dinner."

"We can eat out here," John said, trying to hold Rodney's eye, before ducking his head, a blush once more spreading across his face. "I guess... You seemed kind of peaceful when I came out here and found you. I didn't want to take that away from you, especially after what happened earlier, the fight and all. So I figured, we could eat dinner out here together, you know, under the stars."

For a moment, Rodney just stared at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, a small smile graced his lips. Reaching a hand up, he wrapped it around the back of John's head and tugged until they were forehead to forehead, Athosian style.

"You're a sap, you know that, right?" John just smiled at him, nodding slightly.

"Yeah, but I'm your sap." Rodney hummed in agreement, before leaning dipping his head slightly and brushing his lips across John's.

"Yes, you are. So, what's for dinner?" John snorted.

"Well, we have quite a selection of delicious home cooked dishes, each of which I'm sure is better than the last." It was McKay's turn to snort, as he leaned back against the chair and let John arrange the blankets around them better so they wouldn't freeze, then grabbed himself a plate of food off the coffee table.

"Sucking up will get you nowhere with me." Rodney said in an arched tone, taking a bite of the meal he had cooked hours before. John raised an eyebrow, chewing quickly before swallowing so he could reply.

"Oh really? And what, pray tell, will get me somewhere with you?" Rodney leaned over and, brushing his lips against John's ear, whispered something in a low, rumbling voice. John's heart stopped for a moment, before kicking into high gear.

"That, I'm sure," John whispered back, his voice catching slightly as mental images popped into head. Swallowing, he started again "That can be arranged." Rodney just smiled a sly little grin, before digging back into his meal. _ Oh yeah, so can be arranged. _

Dinner lasted another or so. They sat side by side, talking about this and that. Things got tense for a moment when they brought up the fight, but neither of them wanted to shatter the good mood they had created, and after a tense moment or two, level heads prevailed. Both agreed that they had acted like ass-holes, and to put the fight behind them.

Once the last dish was finished, and the last plate cleared, Rodney reached for the edge of the blanked to head back inside. John reached out, lightning quick, and snagged his hand.  
"Rodney, wait. Sit back down. I want to show you something." His heart skipped a beat as Mckay paused a moment before settling back in the chair. Taking a deep breath, John pulled the coffee table closer, reached back behind then chair and, after pulling the tablet out and settling in on his lap, tugged Rodney so that the other man was settled against his side, with John's free hand around his shoulders. Pulling up the star-charts on the screen, John accessed the translated Ancient text that went with each constellation.

"When I found you, you were staring at the stars, and I realized that for the first time in weeks, you really seemed peaceful." John said when Rodney gave him a raised-eyebrow look that he must have picked up from Teyla. John's had a little more attitude behind it. "I remembered something that Dr.'s Stewart and Bishop had said to Elizabeth during lunch the other day. That they had been working with the linguists to translate the Ancient star-charts, and had discovered that the Ancients had named the stars in their sky much the same way that we did, making constellations and giving each a story."

Propping his legs up on the coffee table, John raised one and leaned the tablet against it and pulled up the first constellation. Using the arm wrapped around Rodney, John pointed to a cluster of stars just above the western pier of the city. They looked like a lopsided star.

"That's Aperon. Legend says that he was a great leader of the Alterran people." The rest of the story filled the night air, John's voice rising and falling as he told Rodney of how Aperon had defended the city against and ancient foe. And how, with his dying breath, he cast himself into the sky, grabbed the enemies's ships and, wrapping himself around them, destroyed them and himself in the process, becoming the lopsided star that sat in the sky.

"Leave it to you to pick a story about the hero killing himself." John sighed.

"Rodney." He could just _see_ the look on Rodney's face. That damn smirk, the laughing eyes. He could picture it clearly in his head.

"What? Okay, okay, fine. I was just saying..."

"Just shut up and let me tell the damn stories." Rodney made a noise that could have been a cough. John was betting on a smothered laugh.

"Yes dear."

Pulling up another constellation, John flipped until he found the story he wanted. Of two lovers, torn apart by greed and war, that crossed galaxies to rest side by side in each other's arms. John found it rather fitting. And judging by the way Rodney sighed and leaned into him a little more, he must have agreed. Dropping a quick kiss to McKay's head, John pulled up the next constellation, letting the peace the two of them had settled into pull up and wrap around him, interwoven with the stories of the night sky.


End file.
